Morning Rituals
by Jet Set Radio Yoyo
Summary: Edward noticed that everybody in the Wayne family had their morning rituals. For example Alfred would always have a single cup of tea before making breakfast, and Bruce needed a cup of coffee to even function in the morning. As for Edward his morning ritual consisted of watching everyone and marveling over the fact that the Riddler found a place in the Bat Family. Bruce X Edward


**Morning Rituals**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Batman.**

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 **Note: I'm posting this story over on my Archive of Our Own account as well under the name Riddle_of_the_sphinx so you will see this story over there.**

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Their clock always went off at 5:50 in the morning. It didn't matter how long Bruce was out as Batman or how long Edward had stayed up studying his case files or looking over crime footage for the various members of the Bat Family that was the time that the clock would go off. Edward always woke up the second he heard the alarm. Bruce was still dead to the world, and he would stay that way for a while.

Edward would always take a few seconds to examine his lover, and he would smirk at the fact that sometime during the night they ended up clinging onto each other. Edward had always been a snuggler in his sleep. When he woke up in the morning he was always clinging onto something be it a pillow, blankets, or whatever else happened to be near him at the time.

Surprisingly, Bruce was the exact same way. The first time they had slept in the same bed Edward was sure that Bruce wouldn't move an inch in his sleep only to be surprised when Bruce rolled over and started to cling to him like an overly attached octopus. Luckily, Bruce never clung to him too tightly. Edward still had to wiggle a bit to get out of his grip though. The second Edward was out of his grasp Bruce's eyes snapped open.

Bruce stared at him with those icy blue eyes of his while Edward just smiled at him and said "Good morning."

Bruce just grumbled a few words that vaguely sounded like a good morning before he pulled his blanket over his head. This was the response that Edward would always get, and every time it happened Edward would roll his eyes at the fact that Bruce was most definitely not a morning person. Bruce was a creature of the night regardless of if he was in the Batman suit or not. As for Edward he could transition between being a night owl to a morning person faster than Two-Face could flip his coin.

He started to move about the room gathering up his clothing for the day from their various storage places. He's dressed in a matter of seconds. The small almost inaudible snore from the bed alerts Edward to the fact that Bruce has already drifted back into the land of dreams. Edward rolls his eyes again before he grabs his laptop off of the nearby nightstand, slips out of the room, and starts making his way to the dining room. Upon reaching his destination he isn't at all surprised to see Alfred sitting at the table with a half empty cup of tea sitting in front of him. Another cup of tea is sitting in front of the seat across from him. Alfred was already dressed and ready for the day. Edward had no idea when the man woke up. Sometimes he was convinced that the butler never slept at all.

Upon spotting him Alfred says "Good morning Master Edward."

Edward doesn't return the morning pleasantry at first. Instead he plops himself down in the seat across from the butler and says "Poke your fingers in my eyes and I will open wide my jaws. Linen cloth, quills, or paper, my greedy lust devours them all. What am I?"

Alfred isn't fazed by hearing the sudden riddle.

He just tilts his head ever so slightly to the side in thought and thinks for a moment before he says "Scissors."

"I'll stump you one of these days." Edward says as he takes hold of his own tea cup and takes a sip. Chai tea with a hint of vanilla is the flavor that greets his taste buds, and Edward can't help but smile upon tasting it.

"If you say so Master Edward." Alfred says straight faced as ever.

It was a little hard to tell, but Edward had lived in this place long enough to know that Alfred was teasing him and even challenging him a little to actually stump him. Edward didn't mind the challenge. If anything he enjoyed it. It was one of the things that he loved about living in this place. The people who lived here or at least frequented the area could actually offer him a mental challenge. The fact that they had long since gotten used to him asking random riddles and actually bothered to give him an answer was just an added bonus. Edward finally gives Alfred his good morning before he places his laptop down on the table and started turning it on.

Nothing more is said between them. They just sat there, drank their tea, and enjoyed each other's presence. Edward couldn't help but quietly marvel at the fact that they were actually enjoying being near each other. Heck, if anything he was amazed that this tea thing had even became a morning tradition for the two of them. He honestly never would have imagined that it would happen. He was a former super villain, and though his time as a super villain was now in the distant past back when his relationship with Bruce was in its infancy his past had caused some problems. The rest of the Bat Family hadn't made it a secret that they didn't trust him. It had been a pretty stressful time for him. He remembered pacing around in his and Bruce's room once all while venting to his calm lover.

"They don't like me Bruce, and I don't think they ever will!" Edward had yelled. "They don't trust me!"

"Then make them trust you." Bruce said as he grabbed Edward and pulled him into his arms.

"Show them that they can trust you. Do some good work in this city, help out during tough cases, and show them that you have put your criminal past behind you." Bruce held him close and whispered in his ear "You gained my trust, and eventually my love. If you can do that then you can gain everyone else's trust easily."

Bruce had then dragged him toward the bed and helped him forget all about his worries for the rest of the night. Edward ended up taking Bruce's advice to heart. He worked his butt off to show everyone that he had truly reformed. He solved as many cases as a private investigator as he possibly could, and on the side he offered as much help that he could to any member of the Bat Family that would take it. He reviewed footage of crimes for them, he hacked into the computers of any super villain that they were looking into, and he gathered as much information as he possibly could to help out.

Heck, he actually helped clean the freaking Bat Cave if only to earn him some extra brownie points with everyone. It took a while, but eventually everyone slowly started to trust him more and more. Alfred was actually the first member of the family to offer him a proverbial olive branch in the form of drinking a cup of tea with him one morning. It had been very awkward at first especially since he never really talked with Alfred before, and without even meaning to Edward had awkwardly blurted out a riddle instead of talking about the weather or something like that.

Alfred hadn't even been fazed by the question. He just thought for a moment and answered the riddle calmly. Edward proceeded to ask five more riddles after that, and Alfred answered them all like a pro. It was on that day that Edward decided that he officially liked Alfred. They ended up doing the tea and a riddle thing the next day, and the day after that, and the day after that until eventually it just became a morning tradition. Nowadays Edward only asked him one riddle first thing in the morning, but the daily riddle was just another tradition that somehow worked its way into their morning schedules along with the tea. Once Alfred finished his tea he got up and proceeded to gather up Edward's empty cup along with his own.

"I imagine you would now like a cup of coffee with more sugar in it then is possibly healthy?" Alfred asked even though he really didn't need to.

Edward just smiled and said "Oh, Alfred you know me well."

Alfred didn't respond to that he just disappeared into the kitchen so that he could get his coffee and start making breakfast. The second Alfred was out of the room Dick came walking into the room. Edward wasn't surprised to see him. He had worked alongside Bruce last night to help bring down some large drug deal that Black Mask had been trying to take care of so he ended up just staying the night at the mansion once the job had been finished. He was as bright eyed and bushytailed as always. The boy was most definitely a morning person. Edward was fine in the mornings, but Dick was more awake and energized in the mornings then he had any right to be.

"Good morning." Dick chirped way too cheerfully before he walked into the kitchen.

Edward watched him disappear into the kitchen before he moved his eyes down to his computer screen. He knew that Dick was getting a cup of orange juice. The boy always started the day with a cup of orange juice.

 _'If Dick is awake then Tim should be up soon as well.'_ Edward thought as he brought up his email.

Sure enough Tim stumbled into the room a couple of seconds later looking only slightly better than Bruce did in the morning. Like Bruce Tim was most definitely not a morning person. However, he could function a bit better without caffeine unlike Bruce who needed a cup of coffee first before he could even begin to communicate. Tim collapsed into the seat next to Edward and placed his head down on the table.

"Good morning sunshine." Edward said with a grin.

It took a minute for Tim to process the fact that Edward was actually talking to him, but once he did he grumbled out "Good morning."

Edward's grin grew a bit bigger as he said "Riddle me this, Tim. What falls but doesn't break, and what breaks but doesn't fall?"

Tim let out a loud groan before said "A riddle this early in the morning? You are torturing me here."

"It's just a riddle, Tim." Edward said with a grin. "Although, if you really want it to be torture I suppose I can make a trap room for you to work your way through like back in my villain days."

Edward was teasing him, but he was also silently amazed that he could joke about his past like this. His villain past sometimes felt more like a dream then reality. Nowadays he could discuss it and joke about it with the rest of the Bat Family. He couldn't say that it didn't matter. It would always matter, but it just wasn't as sensitive a subject anymore. He was no longer a villain, and his deeds as the Riddler were no longer the things that defined him.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Tim say "No, that's OK I can do without the riddle rooms thanks."

Tim didn't bother to lift his head up off the table, but Edward can see that he was thinking rather deeply about the answer to the riddle. Tim was usually pretty quick to answer his riddles, but he always took a little longer during the morning.

"Night and day?" Tim said slowly, but it honestly sounded like a question.

"Correct, but you could sound a bit more confidant in your answer." Edward said.

"Hey, at least I got it right." Tim mumbled.

"Yes, and I am amazed every time you do get it right." Edward said with a smirk.

Tim just sent him a mock glare in return, but the glare disappeared when he spotted Dick entering the room with a glass of orange juice in one hand and two cups of coffee in the other.

"Dick save me Edward is torturing me with riddles." Tim said as he held his hands out for his daily dose of caffeine.

As Dick handed Tim his coffee Edward frowned and said "It's just a riddle. I ask you one every morning, and honestly you should thank me for giving your mind some mental exercise."

Tim mumbled something in his cup of Joe, but Edward didn't understand a word of it. Not that it mattered. Edward had lost Tim to the cup of coffee, and the boy would not reply to anything until he finished it. That would probably take a while considering the fact that Tim always had to sit there and savor his coffee like it was the last cup that he would ever have. Dick just shook his head and smiled slightly as he held his cup up to his lips. Since he was done with Tim he turned to look at Dick.

"I run away every day and return every night. I am the bane of a flower and a thief's delight. Tell me Dick, what am I?"

Without missing a beat Dick immediately said "Darkness."

"How did you answer that so fast?"

"I saw the riddle on a website once. I do look up riddles online sometimes for fun."

"That's cheating." Edward grumbled.

"How is it cheating if I just happened to see the riddle online?" Dick asked.

"It just is." Edward grumbled before he took a sip of his own coffee.

Dick rolled his eyes again, but said nothing more as he went back to drinking his orange juice. Edward took the time to check his emails. He had three from a couple of possible clients, and two emails were from some contacts of his that were sending him some information that he requested for a case that he was working on. One message however was from a woman thanking him again for finding her missing child. She had paid him rather handsomely for that case, and had expressed her thanks in person but the message was still nice. It felt good to be appreciated, and he would be lying if he said he didn't feel a flood of warmth wash over him when he got messages of gratitude like this.

His smile grew even larger when he spotted Bruce walking into the room. He still seemed to be in a post morning daze, but upon spotting Edward he made a beeline straight toward him. Bruce was by his side within a matter of seconds and pressing a kiss to the side of his head. Edward returned the favor by kissing the man's cheek which earned him a sleepy smile from Bruce. This was yet another morning ritual that Edward took part in.

Bruce would always kiss him on the cheek or the head before he went and got his precious coffee. Bruce was never extremely affectionate in public, but he would do little things like giving him a quick kiss to the side of the head or sitting close to him and letting Edward lay his head against his shoulder while he would occasionally run his hand through Edward's hair. It was always small things like that, and Edward couldn't get enough of it. He never got a lot of affection in his life so maybe it shouldn't be surprising that enjoyed the small gestures of affection almost as much as a full blown make out session. Once the small kisses were exchanged Bruce quickly disappeared into the kitchen.

Tim crinkled his nose a bit before he said "I'm never going to get used to you two kissing."

"We have been doing it for a couple of years now so I would think you would be used to it by now." Edward said with a slight frown.

"You would think…" Dick muttered.

"Anyway, if it bothers you just don't look." Edward said.

"I can't help it Bruce being romantic in a sweet couple way is almost bizarre to me. I just can't look away it's like watching a train wreck or something."

Edward didn't know if he should be annoyed by what Tim said or be happy at the fact that Tim wasn't bothered at all by the idea of Bruce loving him. Honestly, it was loving thing that really stuck out to him.

'What is it about mornings that make me think so much about how the Bat Family views me and my relationship with Bruce?' Edward thought almost absentmindedly.

That was one question he didn't have an answer for. At any rate Edward couldn't let the comment about Bruce slide so he flung a balled up napkin at Tim. Tim dogged it like an expert which didn't surprise Edward at all. Of course Alfred and Bruce chose that time to walk back into the room.

"Master Edward please don't throw things in the dining room." Alfred said as he started to place everyone's breakfast down in front of them.

Tim snickered a bit while Edward just grumbled "Tim started it."

Alfred didn't respond to that. Instead he just looked up towards the heavens as if he were silently asking God to give him strength. He did that a lot during Edward's brief moments of immaturity. Edward was actually sort of proud of that fact.

The second Alfred placed his breakfast down in front of him he said "No laptops at the table during breakfast."

Edward just moved his gaze over to his lover and said "Bruce your butler is bossing me around again."

"You knew that would happen when you moved into this house." Was Bruce's blunt reply to him.

"By all means Master Edward keep the laptop there, but if you spill a drink on it and start mourning over its demise again I won't be getting any tissues." Alfred told him.

Edward let out an exaggerated sigh before he closed his laptop and said "You accidentally spill one cup of coffee onto your laptop once and no one ever lets you live it down."

"How could we? You were so devastated when it happened one would think that your dog had just been shot." Tim commented. "I honestly thought you were going to force us to have a funeral for the thing or something."

"Hey, it took me a long time to build it. Excuse me for being a little upset about losing it."

"I believe that this laptop took you just as long to build, and unless you like mourning over expensive equipment I really do suggest that you move it Master Edward." Alfred said.

Edward let out a louder exaggerated sigh this time, but he did as he was told and moved the laptop off of the dining room table and into Alfred's waiting hands. Ever since the coffee incident being told to move his laptop off of the table had become yet another regular part of the morning. Edward didn't mind that much, but it was a little annoying and it was one of the very few things that happened in the morning that he didn't like. Edward could just leave his laptop in the bedroom and check his emails after breakfast, but Edward could never wait that long.

As Alfred left to go place the laptop back in his and Bruce's bedroom Edward heard Dick say "You know I once saw Barbara start mourning over her computer when it went on the fritz and she couldn't fix it."

"When did that happen?" Tim asked.

"Last week." Dick answered.

As Dick quickly launched into his story Edward was quickly reminded of the fact that he would see Barbara tonight for 'family' dinner night. He would be seeing Stephanie and Cassandra as well. He probably wouldn't be seeing Jason. Jason was a complicated person that no one really knew what to do with. At any rate other than Jason almost everyone always showed up for Friday dinner. It was something that Alfred had started up. He thought it would be a good way for everyone to get together and not have to be wearing a superhero suit to do so.

Edward had been going to these 'family' dinner nights for a couple years now, and he couldn't help but marvel over the fact that he actually had a family to have dinner nights with. Heck, every morning before he would eat breakfast he would just sit there and try to take in the fact that he had a family to say good morning to every day. He never had that before. The only people that he had ever been even remotely this close to before were Echo and Query, but he had parted ways with them a long time ago. As for his blood related family the less that was said about them the better.

Edward was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Bruce ask "What are you thinking so hard about?"

Edward was almost tempted to say nothing, but he knew Bruce would know that he was lying. Honestly, Edward was a bit surprised that he asked. He had never asked before, but it was possible that Edward was being a bit obvious today and that Bruce was a bit more awake and therefore more observant then he usually was this early in the morning.

"You'll think it's foolish…" Edward murmured.

Bruce just reached out and wrapped his hand around Edward's hand. Edward automatically wrapped his hand around Bruce's hand in return which caused a small smile to appear on Bruce's face.

"I won't think you are foolish." Bruce said softly.

Edward hesitated for a moment before he finally said "I'm just thinking about how amazing it is that I actually have a family now."

The look that Bruce gives him is completely unreadable, and before Edward can stop himself the proverbial dam breaks and suddenly he's talking a mile a minute.

"It's just every morning I can't believe that I actually have a family that I can say good morning to, eat breakfast with, and ask daily riddles and actually get a response. Every morning I have to take a couple of minutes to process the fact that this is actually happening."

Edward is starting to talk a bit faster now as he says "I never had anything like this not even with my blood related family. Of course you know what my father and mother were like so that fact shouldn't surprise you."

Edward probably would have kept blabbering, but Bruce just held a single finger up to Edward's lips and said "Slow down before you start hyperventilating."

Edward rolled his eyes upon hearing that, and when Bruce finally removed his finger he quickly blurted out "I'm just always amazed by the fact that the Riddler actually found a place in the Bat Family."

He felt stupid for saying that, and Bruce's slight smile was not making him feel better. He glanced over at Tim and Dick only to see that were still chattering away completely unaware of what Bruce and Edward were talking about. Bruce said nothing at first as he leaned forward slightly so that their foreheads were touching.

Edward stared into Bruce's eyes as the man said "After all of these years you think you would be used to it now."

Edward glanced down and quietly said "I know."

 _'I just don't know what I did to deserve this.'_ Edward thought, but he couldn't bring himself to say it out loud.

Bruce must have known what he was thinking though because he said "Edward you will always have a place in this family."

He stated it firmly and confidently like he was stating a fact. The sky was blue, birds fly, and Edward was part of the Wayne family.

Edward marveled at that fact for a few seconds before Bruce quickly snapped him out of his thoughts by saying "Now I think it's time that we move onto my favorite morning tradition."

Edward was about to teasingly ask what that was, but Bruce kissed him before he could say a word. He tasted like coffee with a hint of mint toothpaste. It was not the most pleasant combination, but Edward didn't mind. He had long since gotten used to it. Every day before Edward and Bruce ate breakfast they would share their first kiss of the day. No matter how busy they got, no matter how tired they were, and no matter who happened to be in the area at the time they always exchanged this kiss.

All of Edward's thoughts about him being part of the Wayne family drifted away as he returned the kiss. Edward would never stop being amazed by the fact that he actually had a family every morning. It was as much a morning tradition as having a cup of tea with Alfred was or having him ask everyone a morning riddle. However, as long as that little morning ritual was quickly followed up by a kiss from Bruce Edward figured he didn't really mind that fact…


End file.
